[NFBMT] Possible Interesting Thread: How to keep social distance as a blind person

[BRUCE&JOY BRESLAUER]

These are comments from another list that might or might not spark an
interesting discussion.  Some of these folks live in assisted living
facilities or apartment buildings, where keeping your distance might pose
different challenges than for those living in their own homes.

 

Comment 1: 

Hello, fellow list members,

 

I hope this message finds you well, healthy and ready to tackle any challenge
and anything that may come up with persistence.

 

I am just relaxing at home, hanging out with family and friends (virtually)
and just supporting my parents. I work virtually also during weekdays and
just started tackling tech projects that I've not been able to do.

 

I know that we are all dealing with the situation about the COVID19, and how
our local and state governments are imposing regulations to stay home while
the spread of this viral content out there slows down. Which leads me to ask,
how is the whole deal about 'social distancing' supposed to work if you are a
Blind person? How does one know how far apart to stay from another person
while going out, since one may not always be able to hear people or footsteps
around especially while using a noisy cane that's supposed to track where one
is? If I'm going to the store, or the Post Office, and someone at the
security counter says, OK, please follow the red signs under your feet to
know where to stand!" how about that? Obviously, asking another stranger
would involve close contact with a fellow human being, since I can't hear
their hands crackle as they wave them around and therefore I would violate
the social distancing rules if I were to be by myself. How do you deal with
the whole concept of 'No Contact Delivery'? Does someone just knock at your
door or how might the interaction play like, if getting a food delivery from
DoorDash, for instance?

 

What about driving to do essential functions / activities of daily living,
like going grocery shopping or even out to get tested for this novel virus?
Obviously this is a time where I really wish that self-driven vehicles were
available and ready for cheap markets right now, because I can't drive, and
public transit (at least in my areas) is being reduced pretty much, and, Uber
drivers... well... they don't wanna be exposed, either. So they're not
driving. On the topic of public transit, how about interacting with drivers?
If riders and drivers are supposed to do the whole 'Social Distancing' thing,
do you feel as though it is more challenging to get your questions answered?
I am one of those that has to stand up and get closer to them, since in my
experience, drivers can't always hear people from their seats, or they need
to look at who they're talking to.

 

I am glad I have the support of my family right now at their place, but some
Blind people might not have. So I ask these questions in an attempt to get a
discussion going especially about our accessibility rights if we need to play
in the same field as the sighted public as far as doing our part and
protecting our loved ones.

 

Take care, and have an awesome day! Stay safe

 

"Positive thinking leads to a positive attitude which leads to positive
actions which lead to positive outcomes."

 

Comment 2:

In our complex, a lot of the chairs in the common areas are set well apart
from each other. They've also removed the tables in our big community room to
discourage sitting close together. When it comes to getting restaurant
delivery orders, there are restaurants here that will take your debit or
credit card number over the phone or on-line and then the delivery person
will buzz you or knock on your door to let you know the order is there and
then leave while you pick it up. I suspect that's true in most areas now.
There are some situations which make it very difficult to social distance.
For example, if you are moving through a crowded grocery store, that can make
it difficult. What some people do here is go into our grocery store very
early in the morning, before the big crowds show up and do their shopping
then. These social distancing guidelines are that, guidelines. You probably
won't always follow them perfectly. Just take a good look at what you
normally do, see what you can change, then just do the best you can.

 

Nuclear arms will not hold you.

 

Comment 3:

If you have a doorbell installed you could put instructions in your order
asking the delivery person to place the order in a specific spot where you
can find it and specify to ring the doorbell twice then leave.

Then come out and collect your order. Two meters or 6 feet of distance
between you and anyone else is the correct distance and 2 meters is more like
7 feet apart. I would use my hearing in the same way I hear walls

in a quiet room to find distance. Not everyone else may have that ability
though. In addition to a cane maybe use an open umbrella between you and
anyone in front of you. Cane technique will probably

work better using the pen technique which doesn't involve banging a cane on
the ground.

You keep the cane tip on the ground and if right-handed keep the cane at a 45
degree angle with respect to your cane arm and the cane should point across
your body. This minimizes cane noise and gets you an idea

as to surface on which you're walking. This pen technique is very useful in
crowded hallways. I learned it a long time ago in High School well before any
Americans With Disabilities act ever got passed.